Zero Escape
Zero Escape is a trilogy of games developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan and Aksys Games in North America. The trilogy consists of: * ''Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors'' * ''Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward'' * ''Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma'' The games' genres are psychological horror, mystery, suspense, thriller, and science fiction, with slight elements of humor and comedy to fill in the gaps when the atmosphere isn't so dark. The gameplay is a mix of visual novel, escape-the-room and puzzle. The series follows groups of nine individuals, who are kidnapped and locked up by a person who goes by the name "Zero", and are forced to play a game of life and death in order to escape. In all games, each player is equipped with a bracelet on their left wrist. The gameplay is divided into two types of sections: narrative sections, where the games' stories are presented, and escape-the-room adventure game sections where the player solves puzzles. In the first two games, the narrative sections are presented in a visual novel format, while the third game instead uses animated cutscenes. The stories are affected by player choices, and include multiple endings. 999 cover.png Virtue'sLastRewardBoxart.png ZTDcover.png Story Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors In 999, Junpei finds himself and eight other people trapped on a ship by the mysterious Zero, and they have 9 hours to find Door 9 and escape or they will drown. They are forced to play the Nonary Game. ZeroArt.png|Zero Virtue's Last Reward In Virtue's Last Reward, Sigma finds himself and eight other people trapped in a facility resembling a warehouse by an AI called Zero III, and one of them is the mastermind behind the project. To escape, they must play the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition and its AB Game, which involves allying or betraying other players, to collect at least 9 Bracelet Points to escape through the The Number Nine Door. If a player's BP drops below 1, their needled bracelets filled with lethal poison injects them and they die. ZeroIIIArt.PNG|Zero III Zero Time Dilemma In Zero Time Dilemma, Carlos, Diana and Q find themselves trapped with six other people in the Mars Mission Test Site, forced to participate in the Decision Game by Zero. The participants are them moved to an underground shelter, split into three groups called C, Q, and D, and are forced to play a series of miserable games. In order to escape, they must collect 6 X-Passes to open an X Door blocking a central elevator hall leading to their escape. However, X-Passes are only revealed when a person dies. They cannot escape without sacrificing six of their people. Zeroztd.png|Zero. Endings 999 has 6 endings. (7 in the iOS version) Virtue's Last Reward has 22 endings, including 9 "good" endings, 11 game overs, and 2 endings after the true ending, including 1 secret ending. These endings are based on the player's decisions. Zero Time Dilemma will feature seven named endings and a number of unnamed endings where the story hits a dead end without it being a true ending. Gameplay The Zero Escape series is composed of two sections. The first part are visual novel sections, which make up the majority of the gameplay expanding the story. The second part are escape rooms, which have puzzles that must be solved to escape and continue the story. Which escape rooms the protagonist goes through are based on the player's actions. *In 999, the player can directly pick which numbered door to go through. *In VLR, it is based on the player's actions in the Ambidex Game and whether or not you choose to ally or betray the other participants. On most occasions, with the exception of the White Chromatic Doors, you can pick which Chromatic Door to go through. However, in some routes, your choice is limited. It depends on your choices in the AB Game as well as the attitudes of the other participants. Content discretion It should be taken into account that the Zero Escape series has a mixture of humor which may not appeal to everyone, ranging across sexual innuendoes (of both heterosexual and homosexual variety) puns, wordplay, video game references and similar. There is also a lot of minor to moderate profanities throughout (fuck, crap, bitch, etc.) Additionally, the game includes detailed descriptions of gore, murder and suicide which are often accompanied by anime art of dead bodies covered in blood - as per its 17+ age rating. Like all media, just because the game is drawn in a cartoonish or anime style, this does not mean it will be suitable for audiences of a sensitive disposition. It should also be noted that the Zero Escape series is on Nintendo DS and 3DS, and Nintendo is often viewed by many parents as a "family and child friendly" company. Despite this, games like Zero Escape and its counterparts are not recommended for children or younger teenagers, as shown by its age rating; parents should consider these factors before they allow their child to play these games. Category:Games